1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for freezing frozen food product, such as citrus juices, and more particularly relates to an apparatus having an array of refrigerated tubes mounted for immersion in a container of food product for freezing the food by introducing a chilling medium into the tubes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of freezing systems are disclosed in the background art for producing frozen blocks of ice or for limited use with specific foods. However, none address the problems considered by the present invention. For instance, Simpkins, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,750, discloses an apparatus for making ice blocks comprising a hollow body having downwardly projecting hollow block parts, a "paddlewheel," a water supply line including an actuating cock, and refrigerating fluid and heating fluid that are circulated separately through the body.
Another ice making machine is disclosed by Lunde, U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,956, wherein the apparatus includes agitator paddles and further includes an ice cube thickness sensor, a compact control module, feelers containing switch actuating magnets to activate cycles, and a freezing element about which the ice cubes form.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,823 to Salimbeni Vivai, there is disclosed, in the background art, a plurality of elongated, refrigerated molds, dependent from the roof of a casing, having V-shaped passages which are interconnected by pipes for the flow of refrigerating fluid and having a separate passage for subsequently heating the refrigerated molds.
Additional ice-making machines are disclosed by Lowe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,610; Carpenter, U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,163; Wilbushewich, U.S. Pat. No. 3,274,794; Wilbushewich, U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,534; Wilbushewich, U.S. Pat. No. 2,594,529; and Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,069.
Wilbushewich, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,246, discloses a method and apparatus for cooling goods packed in containers, consisting of arranging the containers in closely spaced relationship to a cooling element, establishing thermal contact between the container and the element by means of a frozen liquid, cooling the element, and removing the container from the element.
Powers, U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,279, teaches a freezing, defrosting, and storage assembly for meat products, particularly turkeys, comprising a pallet having a plurality of vertically projecting tubes for piercing and freezing the meat products.
Goumy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,995, discloses a device for fabricating frozen molds or cores, comprising a fixed gassing box, a molding box, and a head for receiving and discharging gas.
The above-noted background art neither solves nor addresses the problems present in known freezing machines. The present invention solves these problems by providing an apparatus having an array of heat transfer tubes depending from a freezing and thawing media manifold that alternatingly pass chilling and heating media into the heat transfer tubes for freezing the food product about the tubes, and releasing the food product for remote storage or shipping.